Can't sleep so I went back to play the woulda, coulda, shoulda game... just to see what might have been. Check out this roster: PG: Steve Francis ('99), Sam Cassell ('93), Howard Eiseley ('94) SG: Michael Finley ('95), Doug Christie ('92), Michael Dickerson ('98) SF: Rick Fox ('91), Rashard Lewis ('98) PF: Jerome Williams ('96), Kenny Thomas ('99), Al Harrington ('98) C: Jayson Williams ('90), Marc Jackson ('97), Joe Pryzbilla ('00) These are guys we could have taken (or in some cases did take) with our first-round draft choice. I know. This roster would have never been able to be kept intact because of Salary Cap issues etc. Just play along. Which ones would you have really wanted to keep then? Do you see any NBA titles coming out of this crowd? Imagine Francis coming in to back up Sam Cassell after 6 years. Imagine Finley's offense as counter-point to Christie's great defense. And then add Dickerson's athleticism. Imagine Rashard Lewis supplanting Rick Fox about the time that Fox was winning a title with the Lakers. Imagine Jerome Williams boarding and defending all these years with Kenny T and Al learning the ropes. Imagine Marc Jackson backing up Jayson Williams and Pryzbilla on the learning curve.
And I imagine Francis would have displaced Cassell too. It's interesting to review those old drafts. I did some counting and after 4-5 years only half of the first-round picks are even in the NBA anymore-- heavily dosed with the lottery picks of course.
Don't get hung up on reality! I noted that the roster would have necessarily been in flux (mostly because of contract demands) and certainly we couldn't have retained Dickerson, although we might have just given up someone else (although with this roster Dickerson looks like the logical choice-- keep Finley and Christie). I was simply looking at who was available when the Rockets picked, who would have been a great choice, and what kind of roster that would have resulted in. For sure other personnel moves could or would have taken place. We might have even taken that earlier offer for Hakeem from Toronto because we would have had Jayson Williams and Marc Jackson playing the 5. Wouldn't it have been nice to displace Rick Fox with Tracy McGrady?! Damn this is fun!
